When was the last time you got in your car and drove, simply for the sake of taking a drive? Chances are it’s been a while, and there’s no doubt why. The price of gas, and the overall lack of spare-time in our lives puts seemingly pointless drives low on our priority lists. Yesterday evening, though, I made a gap in my schedule to take out the MINI and enjoy many miles of beautiful northern California roads.
I’ve done this before, but I decided to try a new route. I found Redwood road to be popular among Porsche Cayman drivers. After spending nearly half an hour on Google Maps making my route, I headed out on my journey to Redwood road, from Oakland through upper San Leandro to Castro Valley.
The beautifully sculpted curves of Redwood Rd.
Right off Highway 13, you begin to climb a long, windy hill to a traffic light at the top. From there you descend into the redwoods. The temperature immediately drops over 5 degrees, and you feel as if you’ve teleported into an entirely different area of California. The curves are beautiful, perfectly sculpted, and banked just right. It would be a near flawless driver’s road if it were only in better condition. At times it’s roughness is borderline unpleasant, as your vehicle hops and skips over semi-patched potholes and chunked up edges. But none of this really seems to matter, as the scenery takes your senses away from the drive itself. There’s no need to push it, in fact I had the tendency to encourage myself to slow down and enjoy the road and scenery for exactly what it is; a beautiful route through a beautiful part of California.
It’s not a long drive, by any means. I was there and back in a little under 2 hours. And if you’re searching for somewhere to push your car or motorcycle to the limits, this is not the place. But if you want to take a drive simply to see something beautiful, I encourage you by all means to hop on Redwood road.
-ah
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